As pressure mounts, Georgia’s top candidates spar over debate stage

Crunch time in Georgia’s top campaigns means the debate over debates is now in full swing. And the scorecard looks very different depending on the race.

In the governor’s contest, there’s still just one showdown both have accepted: an Oct. 6 modified town hall hosted by Atlanta News First.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms says she’s agreed to five others, including a Middle Georgia forum in Macon last week where she appeared without Republican Rick Jackson. Jackson has committed only to the Atlanta News First event.

Democrats escalated the pressure Tuesday with a news conference outside the Atlanta headquarters of 11Alive, another outlet that invited the candidates to debate.

“This guy’s completely full of it, and he doesn’t care anything about the people of Georgia, which is why he’s not showing up. He’s also just scared, and this is not new for Rick Jackson,” Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey said.

Jackson’s campaign said the Republican is “focused on speaking directly with Georgia voters” and preparing for the Oct. 6 showdown.

“Keisha Lance Bottoms and her allies are doing anything they can to distract from the fact that they’re running such a disastrous campaign that she cannot reach Georgians without Rick’s help,” said Garrison Douglas, Jackson’s spokesman.

The Senate race has a slightly fuller calendar. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins are set for an Oct. 8 Atlanta News First debate, followed by an Atlanta Press Club matchup on Oct. 13.

Both races have turned intensely personal. A confrontation between Bottoms and Jackson outside a downtown Atlanta hotel last month gave us a glimpse of the raw emotions in that race: She told him to leave her family out of his campaign.

And Ossoff and Collins have spent months trading attacks. Ossoff has branded Collins a “notorious bigot, antisemite and extremist,” while Collins has portrayed the Democratic incumbent as a “nepo-baby” and far-left liberal.

Things to know

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:

Meet Virginia

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is bringing his new school-choice campaign to Georgia, part of a multimillion-dollar effort aimed at making the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit a campaign issue in battleground states.

Youngkin’s group, Empowering America’s Parents, is launching digital ads in metro Atlanta targeting women ages 25 to 54, according to a source familiar with the effort. The ads praise Gov. Brian Kemp for opting Georgia into the program and urge the state’s next governor to keep it in place.

“We see across this nation 30 states that have opted in and 20 states that haven’t. Of course, in Georgia, Gov. Kemp opted in,” Youngkin said Tuesday on Erick Erickson’s WSB radio show.

“He believes in empowering parents and giving them a chance to make these decisions for their kids. But, of course, in 20 states, they have not opted in.”

The federal program offers taxpayers a credit of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that can help cover private school tuition and other education expenses.

It’s the second phase of Youngkin’s national campaign. The first targeted Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; the latest expansion includes Georgia, Iowa and Nevada.

Youngkin launched Empowering America’s Parents last month with a focus on promoting the tax credit and school-choice policies.

Judicial unity

A bipartisan cast of Georgia political veterans is urging voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would make probate judge elections nonpartisan statewide.

Former Govs. Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes, former Lt. Govs. Casey Cagle and Mark Taylor, former DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter are among the dozens of elected officials, former officeholders, mayors and advocacy group leaders who signed an open letter backing the November ballot measure.

The proposal passed the Legislature overwhelmingly. Supporters argue probate judges, who handle wills, estates, guardianships, marriage licenses and mental health commitments, should be treated like other elected judges, who already run without party labels.

“Requiring any of us to publicly and formally align ourselves with any political party can only undermine the public’s perception of judicial impartiality,” Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson said at his State of the Judiciary address earlier this year.

Flock safety

Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is teaming up with a Republican senator from neighboring Alabama in a bipartisan campaign for the Justice Department to come up with national standards and best practices for the use of automatic license plate readers, such as Flock Safety’s cameras.

The company’s equipment has been used by law enforcement agencies across Georgia, who say they help track criminals and solve crimes. But a newly released audit tool that allows agencies to identify abnormal usage has led to internal investigations, allegations of misuse and, in some cases, criminal charges, the AJC reported last month.

Warnock and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday asking him to to provide law enforcement agencies with guidance on how to ensure employees are using these systems appropriately, noting state and local entities often use federal funding to pay for it.

“We are deeply concerned about the misuse of ALPR systems and believe that appropriate safeguards are necessary to protect against unauthorized access and abuse, including by individuals who might misuse the technology to stalk and harass their victims,” Warnock and Britt wrote. “We also want to ensure that funding of these technologies is paired with appropriate oversight to ensure that the funding is not used to facilitate such abuse.”

Listen up

Credit: (Arvin Temkar and Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: (Arvin Temkar and Jason Getz/AJC)

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, we’ve got an election-season deep dive into the competing affordability plans in the governor’s race, from Jackson’s push to cut state income and local property taxes to Bottoms’ income tax break for teachers and sales tax breaks on groceries and other essentials.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

NIL bill

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

The U.S. Senate took another step toward approving a bill that would create national standards for name, image and likeness contracts.

If these procedural votes are any indication, the bill has bipartisan support and is on track for passage in the coming days. The amendment that was approved on Tuesday was part of the push to widen support by adding in language championed by Democrats.

Georgia’s two senators have split on the issue with Ossoff voting in favor of advancing the Protect College Sports Act.

Warnock was among 21 senators who voted “no.”

Ossoff said the bill is imperfect but an improvement upon the status quo, benefiting the state of Georgia by creating clear rules for schools and conferences to follow. Warnock said the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect athletes, although he is talking with colleagues in hopes of getting more changes before a final vote.

“I am focused on centering these student athletes, and this bill just doesn’t pass muster on that score,” he said.

Today in Washington

Fitz time

Kemp endorsed former Public Service Commissioner Fitz Johnson in the race for the District 3 seat, touting Johnson’s record on utility rates and protections for residential customers.

Kemp appointed Johnson to the PSC in 2021, and he backed his unsuccessful 2025 campaign.

“Fitz Johnson is a proven conservative who understands that reliable, affordable energy is essential to Georgia families and our economy,” Kemp said.

Johnson is campaigning on his PSC tenure, which ended with a lopsided defeat to Democrat Peter Hubbard in a 2025 election dominated by voter frustration over rising Georgia Power bills and concerns about the costs of serving data centers.

Shoutouts

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Today’s birthdays;

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Before you go

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is providing $147 million in supplemental funding to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, a one-time cash infusion that will impact all nine HBCUs in Georgia.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.